Signaling device



2 Sheets-She", 1

`lime 9, 1925. E. J. PARKER SIGNALING DEVICE Filed June 25. 1924 June 9, 192s. 1,540,857

E. J. PARKER SIGNALING DEVICE Filed June 25, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

' kazaa/a wh ma MMM? Patented June 9, i925.

EUGENE J., PARKER, 0F CMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNIVERSAL SAFETY SIGNAL, INC, Oll BOSTGN,

MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION.

SIGNALIENG DEVICE.

' Application filed June 25, i924. Serial No. 722,354.

To @ZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, EUGENE J. PARKER,

a citizen of the United States, yand resident of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Signaling Devices, of which the following is a specification; My present invention relates to ay vehicle signal, and more specifically to that ktype of signal which is` actuated from either the foot brake, clutch, or an independent lever to actuate a warning device at the rea-r or side of a vehicle, whereby a following vehicle will be made aware of a contemplated action on the part of the driver o-f the vehicle equipped with this device.

The principal objectof the invention is theprovision of means as above, which will actuate a pair of hands thrown out in a horizontal direction whenone wishes to make a turn toy the rightor to the left, the `signal comprising a hand or the like pointing inthe direction in which it is desired to turn, and in addition te provide emergency means whereby the signals may be brought to a vertical position automatically when and if lit is desired to bring the vehicle equipped with the device to an emergency standstill, or

even a sudden slow down.y

`To this end the invention includes a foot operated pedal connected by means of a'bell crank beneath vthe floor of the machine toa rod which causes, upon pressure being applied to the foot pedals, rotation of la mutilated gear located in a frame box at the rear of the vehicle. `Rotation oftheimutilated gear causes rotation of a rod carrying they signalling arm, andmoves the same from an invisible position behind a suitable case, to

either a horizontal or vertical position, as majy7 be desired. This mechanism is provided in duplicate, each mechanism'actuat-- ing its own signal armlocated at o-pposite sides of the lmachine, to indicate a right/or left turn or stop, when. the signals occupy vertical positions. A windup springmechanism is provided on the signal shaft whereby upon removing'the foot from the foot pedal the device will be retracted and the signal arm will be returned to its inoperativeposition behind the shield above mentioned.`

The inventionY also includes thevfeatures of construction and arrangement of parts shown and described.

I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings one form lof deviceJ which I have found to besa-tisfactor although obviously I do not wish to be limited thereto, as many changes and modications' will occur to those skilled in the art. A

In these drawings: f l' l 1 Figure l is a sideelevation of an automobile with the side walls partly broken away to show the application of my invention thereto. y

Fig. 2 is a rear view of an automobile showing my improved device applied(` Fig. 3 is aYV detail of the control mechanism beneath the driver, t

Fig. 4; isa perspective detail of one ofthe actuating levers.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of th and associated parts. l

Fig. 6 is a frontelevation of mutilated gears. f f

gear assembly me of the Fig. 7 is a detailfof `oneofthe"pulleys showing the retracting means. i

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the signal casing, `showing the arm therein.`

Fig. 9 isa front elevation, partly in section, of the signal-arm and casing.` v

Fig. 10 isv an enlarged View ofthe heel pedal Aand assembly. f

Referring now with particularitytc the embodiment illustrated, I have shown the automobile floor board at l, being penetrated by the clutch pedal 2 and the brakepedal 3 in the ordinary manner, and two heel actuated pedals tand 5, likewise penetrating the Hoor l. f

Suitably mounted beneath the floor isa bell crank 6 Ahaving one arm thereof `connected to the'heel pedal 4 so that depression of said pedal will cause la partial rotation of the bell crankfabout its axis. The opposite arm of the bell crank 6 is vattached by means of rod Z to lever arm 8 carried -by `shaft 9 which isjournaled in the assembly box l0. A similar arrangement 'of 'parts is provided whereby the heel Vl'pedal 5 is connected to one arm of abell crank 6a similarly `located beneath the floor boardl l, the lower arm` of said bell crank-6a being connected 'by means of rod 11 to the lever arm 12 carried by shaft 13 located in the opposite side of the assembly box 10.

The'l clutch pedal 2 is likewise attached by means of rod 14 to lever arm 15 located on shaft 9. In the same manner the brake pedal 3 is attached bymeans of rod 16 to the lever arm 17 located on shaft 13, all for a purpose to be more fully described hereinafter.

Secured to the shaft 9 in any desirable manner is a stop device 18 having a shoulder 19 thereon with which` the lever arms 8 and 15 engage when the heel pedal 4. and the clutch pedal 2 are depressed respectively. TheJ lever arms 8 and 15 are-simply slipped on the shaft and may rotate independently of the shaft andy independently of each other.- In the saine manner a stop device 2O is fastened to the shaft 13 and is provided with a shoulder 2 1- with which the lever arms 12 and 17 engage `when the heel pedal 5 and the brake pedal3` are depressed respectively. rI`he levers .12 and 17 are likewise freely rotatable onthe shaft and operable windependently of each other.

TvVithin the assembly box 1() I provide a.

vrinitilated gear 22 secured to the yend of shaft9,and ina similar manner gear 23 attached to the inner endzof .She-ft 13` A signal actuating rod 24 is ournalled in opposite sides of the assembly box lO and is provided with a beveled Ygear v25 secured thereto in a manner so that teeth on mutilated gear 22 can be made to engage the teeth therein to cause partial rotation of the signal actuating shaft 24. In like manner a 'second signal actuating shaft 26 is arranged in the same way-in proximity to the mutilated gear 2,3 andin such, manner that the teeth on .said gear may bemade to engage the beveled gear 2T onthe shaft 26 to cause partial rotation thereof,V v Y A pulley 23 is secured to fthe end of the signal actuating shaft 24 and carries a belt 29 connected with a pulley 30 to which is secured -a signal arin or device 31. In like manner pulley 3,2 is providedon the end of the signal actuating shaft 26 adapted to re- Y ceive a belt 33 connected withv a'pulley 24 to'which is secured a second signal armor device 35. The signal arms or devices :31

`and'35 are adapted to ordinarily rest behind shields or cases 36 and 37 respectively secured to the back;A of the vehicle in any de-v sired manner. v e p n A grooved ulleyA 3 8 is likewise wattached tothe signal actuating shaft-24,. having one end of a` spring 39 Isecured thereto, the other Vend of said spring beingk attached to the body ofthe vehicle, the spring beingnormal,ly..u11dger-sligl,1t tension to retain `the signal arm 'ordevice31.1behind its shield 36. When, however, by reason of the actuation of the properk pedals, the signal arm 31 is made to be removed from its shield 36 and occupy either a horizontal or vertical position, as will be more fully hereinafter described, additional tension is placed on the spring 39 so that when pressure is taken olf of the actuating pedals the signal arm is returned by means of the spring to its proper position and all associated parts are made to assume their intial position. Spring 40 located in grooved pulley 41 operates in the same manner to return signal arm 35 to its initial position.

The operation of the device is as follows The arrangement of parts is such that depression ofthe brake and clutch pedals will cause only one-half the amount of rotation of the signal actuating shafts 24 and v26, as ldepression of the heelv pedals 4v and 5. When the heel pedals 4 and 5 are fully depressed through their associated mechanism, tl

they will cause a rotation of the signal actuating shafts 24 and 26 respectively through 180o. The depression of the brake and clutch pedaly will,therefore, only cause movement of these shafts throuOh In other words, when the heel pedal 4 lis depressed, the signal arm or device 31 will` be made to describe an arc equal to 180o from its normal resting position, which will'mean that it will be projected outwardly beyond the sideof the vehicle to which it is attached tooccupy a horizontal position, thereby .indicating to a following vehicle that the ,driver of the vehicle to which the device is attached is about toy make a left hand turn. Depression of the heel pedal 5 will indicate bit) in the same manner by means of signal arm Y vertical position, which indicates to arfollowingvehicle that the driver of the vehicle to which the device is attached is about to slow downor stop. This is the position of -i the traiiic. policeman in indicating stop to `vehicular traffic, as by the raised hand.

e Suppose for instance, the vehicle having wthis device attached thereto is travelling along a highway and the driver eitherdepresses theV clutch or brakel pedal, or both.

Thisy `he will not do unless he contemplates Y either slowing down or coming to a full stop. As soonas these pedals are depressed, the signal devices 31 and 35 at the rear of y the car will be thrown up into the stop position, which indicates the drivers intentv to a following vehicle. On the lother hand, whenevera turnv is to be made, depression ofthe proper heel pedal will indicate, by means of the devices 31 and 35` the direction in which the turn is about to be made. Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1,-- i f l.y A signal device including in combination, a signal arm mounted for partial rotation normally occupying a horizontal position, means to cause 90o rotation of said arm, additional means to cause 180O rotation Vof said arm, said means being operable independently of each other.

2. A signal device including in combination, a signal arm, an actuating shaft operatively connected to said arm to cause rotation of said arm, a beveled gear secured to said shaft, a gear operating said beveled gear, said operating gear being located on a shaft journaled in an assembly box, and two independently rotatable levers, each capable of rotating said mutilated gear, and means to move said levers.

3. A signal device including in combination, a. signal arm normally at rest in a horizontal position, an actuating shaft operatively connected to said arm and adapted to cause partial rotation of said arm, said shaft being connected by beveled gearing to a stub shaft, two independently rotatable levers mounted on said shaft, one of said levers being connected to the control pedal of an automobile, the other lever being connected to a depressible pedal provided for the purpose, depression of either pedal causing partial rotation of the stub shaft about Vits axis, and similar rotationof the signal actuating shaft.

4C. In a signal system for an automobile having a foot operated control, a pair of independent and pivoted signal arms nor-v mally disposed horizontally inward, an independent dominant actuating means for each of said arms and operatively connected to rotate them through 180", and an operative connection between the -foot operated control and each of said arms and independently potentially effective to move both arms 90O 'from normal position.

5. In a signal system for an automobile having a foot operated control, a pair of rear end signal arms laterally and vertically positionable, and operative connection for said arms with said foot control and efective to position the signal arms in vertical position, and independent means inclusively eective to position said arms in horizontal position. Y

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature.

EUGENE J. PARKER. 

